Thursday, October 15, 2009

Over the past several years, my husband and I have been trying to make more "green" choices for our family. From cloth diapering, reusable napkins and tissues, to focusing on less waste.If we're lucky, our green efforts rub off on our kids, and sometimes more than we realize.

My 4 1/2 year old recently started taking lunch to preschool one day a week. We pack his lunch pail, reusable cup, cloth napkin, wrap-n-mat, and plastic spoon. I remind him to keep track of these things so we're sure to have them for next time. I picked him up and the FIRST thing he says to me is "the teachers threw away my spoon. I told them not to but they did anyway. What should we do?" Um...I guess we're off to look through the trash to uphold my own rule. Drat.

My 2 1/2 year old (who has been cloth diapered most of his life) wore a "paper" diaper on a 4 hour road trip. He refused to pee in the disposable - which is awesome for potty training...not so awesome for the 4 emergency "I have to go potty" stops along the side of the freeway!

When visiting IKEA, we stopped at the restaurant for a little snack. They have the natural brown napkins there and both my kids said "ooooh, PAPER napkins!!!" as if this was something new and exciting. But then they both said they were too scratchy. Am I raising cloth napkin snobs?

While playing in the park, both my kids are quick to point out litter, and run over to pick it up, handing it to me. I tell them "oh, honey, yes it would be great if we picked up that [gross, disgusting, wet, moldy] litter, but I don't have anything to put it in". As we put the litter back on the ground... :(

When visiting a friend's new house, she was mentioning how she didn't have room to set up her sewing machine. My 4 1/2 year old asked a few questions to her about her sewing machine and why she wasn't using it. Then turns to me and asks, with the most inquisitive look on his face, "But how do they make their soakers?"....Because everyone has diaper soakers, right? :)

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comments:

These are awesome stories. I found my daughter's "stash" of little plastic containers (the kind that yogurt and fruit come in) I thought they were being placed in the recycle bin, but instead she goes and washes them out and then stacks them up to hold craft stuff and jewelry. Very proud of my sweetheart.